Seven Smart Tips To Complement Your Weight Loss Efforts

Losing weight requires discipline and thinking in a number of areas, from what you eat and how much of it to how you feel afterwards. Use the following seven tips to complement your efforts to lose weight and see if they don't give you a much needed boost in more ways than one.

1. Fit exercise into your schedule. Most people fail to devote enough time to working out in their day, due to being busy. Avoid this mistake by setting aside time specifically to walk, run, do cardio or aerobics and stick to the schedule. Weight loss without exercise just isn't effective.

2. Quit processed foods. They are loaded with fats, sodium and usually calories, not to mention being unhealthy with all those chemicals. As convenient or yummy as they may be for you, they will be very counterproductive to your weight loss goals.

3. Avoid calories from beverages. They add up much quicker than most people realize, and can actually increase hunger. Don't reach for a soda, even if it's "diet" when you are thirsty and trying to lose weight, grab a bottled water instead. Also, minimize the damage from frothy lattes and specialty iced-coffees by making that in your own kitchen. Stick to the basics and keep cup size moderate.

4. Add fruits and vegetables to every meal. Nobody gets the recommended amounts everyday, and for the person needing to lose weight, they are needed even more. The natural sugars and plentiful vitamins and minerals will work with your body when trying to shed pounds. Have apple slices with breakfast, carrot sticks with lunch and pile on the green vegetables (hold the butter!) for dinner.

5. Moderate your portion sizes. People tend to think that an extra spoonful is harmless, but it adds up quickly. Understand portion measurements according to the instructions of your weight loss agenda and stick to them. Any deviation will throw-off the entire program and leave you wondering why you can't make progress on the scales. Also, it can help to serve food on smaller plates.

6. Change the way you snack. Eating a handful of almonds can actually work with your metabolism and digestion, as can low-fat yogurt. The choices you make with between meal snacking make an enormous difference in your weight loss efforts; look at snacks like dietary aids, rather than small indulgences. Make calculated and informed decisions and speed-up the weight loss process.

7. Find alternatives to eating when you're stressed. Most of us lean on comfort foods when we are overwhelmed by stress and when you need to drop a few pounds, that's a bad habit. Try turning to your favorite exercise instead or music, meditation and reading.Not only will that nervous nibble add undue calories to your day, the guilt will just lead to more stress.

Dieting without losing weight is depressing and frustrating. Use the above tips to make the positive changes necessary to actually make more progress in your weight loss efforts. Once you see the scale move towards the left during weigh-ins, stick to your healthy habits and continue toward your goals.

weight loss

lunch dinner recipes

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Vegetarian Low Carb Diets For Beginners

There has been a lot of confusion concerning vegetarian low carb diets. Many people are contemplating whether or not they should make the switch to a meat free lifestyle, but the high carbohydrate content (and the lack of protein) has them confused. If you are wanting to switch, but are finding it impossible to eat a vegetarian high protein low carb diet, than you should find some help in this article.

The first thing you will need to decide is the kind of vegetarian you will become. Are you willing to give up every single animal product, or are you willing to compromise a little? To be a true vegetarian is to eat nothing but fruit, vegetables, and grain. If its natural you eat it, if its not you don't. This is sometimes known as veganism (a diet in which you do not eat anything containing animal product).

Many people find it too hard to eat within those parameters. Many of these people choose to become either a lacto vegetarian, or a lacto ovo vegetarian. Both of these alternatives promote the vegetarian lifestyle, while making it easier on the individual.

With a lacto vegetarian diet you will still abstain from eating meat, but you will have the added option of being able to consume dairy products. This is a much easier way of living. You don't realize how many food products contain some form of dairy (until you attempt to stop eating them). With this option you can still eat cheese and drink milk! This makes it much easier, you can still eating your breakfast cereal in the morning!

With a lacto ovo veggi diet you can eat dairy and eggs. This is the easiest of them all and is where a lot of people start. This gives you more flexibility if you need to eat a low carb high protein diet. Egg whites are full of protein and many vegetarian body builders eat them in most of their meals. It's highly advisable that you limit your intake to two egg yokes per day (this number will vary depending on your age and nutrition needs). 1 egg yoke contains most of your daily cholesterol needs. You don't want to over do it. Feel free to eat as many egg whites as you want though.

To get more protein you can snack on nuts and seeds during the day. If you need to limit your carbs than limit your fruits and grains (do not avoid them, limit them). You can eat as many veggi's as you want, without worrying. (most vegetables are ok, you should limit high fat veggi's like avocado).

This should be enough information to get you started in your pursuit of a low carb vegetarian diet plan.

Tiffany Benton is the senior editor of BodyWhole Online Magazine, a magazine that provides fast weight loss tips [http://bodywhole.com] & fitness advice. Tiffany in originally from Los Angeles California and has a BA in Nutrition & is a licensed dietition. She is currently working on her first book which is scheduled to be published in July 2010. Be sure to check out her latest article on starting a low carb vegetarian diet [http://bodywhole.com/lowcarb-vegetarian-diet]

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How To Lose Weight While Pregnant - 3 Tips To Help You Lose Weight While Pregnant

Putting on extra weight while pregnant is, as we all know, part and parcel of the whole process. And it has it's plus points too - those bigger boobs make your hubby feel like a kid at Christmas! :)

But what is a normal and appropriate amount of weight to gain while pregnant? Are there any ways that we can safely lose weight while pregnant? What can you do now that will make your labour easier and help you get back to your pre-pregnant weight super fast when your little bundle of joy finally arrives?

Are you really overweight?

These days it's easy to get sucked into the media's image of what a mum-to-be should look like, what with all these celebrity toothpicks, as I like to call them, having no more than a small bump, whilst being on some faddy diet. I must stress that pregnancy is definitely not the time to be going on a strict weight loss diet. What you need is to ascertain what a suitable pregnancy weight is for you, and then take steps to try to maintain it and increase your health and the health of your baby.

Everybody is different, and every woman's body will react differently while pregnant. An average weight gain for a full term pregnancy is anywhere between 25-45 pounds, which includes the increase in the mother's blood volume, the size of the uterus, the placenta, various fluids and the baby. This is an average figure so there will be much variation either side. Check with your doctor for more advice on your optimum weight.

How to lose weight while pregnant Tip no.1 - Control Your Cravings

Cravings are one of the hardest things to deal with during pregnancy, and annoyingly, one of the biggest contributors to excessive weight gain. Waking up in the middle of the night yearning for chocolate, or ice cream with gherkins, is a well-known part of pregnancy. However, these cravings, while healthy and perfectly normal, can be controlled and there are even certain foods that can reduce your cravings. Eating foods with a low Glycemic Index (GI) can help balance your blood sugar levels and reduce the highs and lows that many women suffer throughout the day, due to their slow release of energy. This can help you in reducing the onset of any excess pounds and begin to help you lose weight while pregnant.

By craving foods with high sugar and glucose levels a vicious circle can be created because they will often make the cravings worse, affect your mood and contribute to excess weight gain.

How to lose weight while pregnant Tip no.2 - Eat More Often

"Hang on, didn't you just tell me to control my cravings Now you're telling me that eating more often will help me lose weight while pregnant? Are you out of your mind?"

This kind of sounds counter-intuitive doesn't it? The idea though is that you'll be eating smaller portions more regularly instead of 2-3 large meals a day. By doing this you're not consuming any extra unnecessary calories, but are feeding your body and the baby more regularly. This will help keep your metabolism and blood sugar at consistent levels and keep you energised throughout the day.

And yes, I am out of my mind but not because of this! ;)

How to lose weight while pregnant Tip no.3 - Exercise

Exercising regularly during pregnancy was once frowned upon, but now has seen to be a great way to stay in shape and lose weight while pregnant, avoid the aches and pains common with weight gain, and can increase energy, flexibility and make your labour significantly easier (thank goodness!).

Walking and swimming are excellent low-impact ways to keep you fit and healthy and maintaining a balanced weight while pregnant. The buoyancy you'll find in the pool will often come as a relief and an aid to your daily routine and let's you get some fantastic exercise without putting stress on your body or the baby's.

Stationary cycling is also a great way to get some low-impact exercise and build stamina.

Yoga and Pilates can be beneficial and effective ways to lose weight while pregnant but make sure you find a suitably experienced instructor who has specialised in dealing with pregnant women.

Again it's always best to check with your doctor on the intensity of your workouts, for instance, if you exercised regularly before you were pregnant then your workouts will be notably different to someone who didn't.

There's no need to go through your pregnancy feeling overweight, unattractive and lacking energy. There are many more simple steps you can take to help you lose weight safely while pregnant, and have an easier labour.

Discover more secrets and tips on How To Lose Weight While Pregnant at my website.

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Top 5 Herbal Weight Loss Supplements

Science Behind Weight Loss Supplements

Scientists worldwide are continually studying the potential for herbs that might help with weight reduction. The best research is available to the public by searching through the PubMed online medical database at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Anyone can conduct a search for studies on any herb, using search terms to find the titles and abstracts of articles of interest.

Examining the research on common herbs that are marketed for losing weight shows that certain herbs can be very helpful. On the other hand, other well-known herbs have no scientific support or anything remotely related to it. They are mostly scams.

Top Herbs

Green tea is an example herb that is supposed to help with weight reduction. A recent PubMed search on 'green tea' as a search term yielded 4,536 articles. Modifying it to 'green tea and weight loss' yielded 88 articles, many showing positive results. This an example of a well-researched herb. Indeed, a quick inspection of these articles shows that green tea is the probably best of all the herbal weight loss supplements.

Green tea seems to be the star of the show in other ways, too. This herb is well-researched for its multiplicity of health benefits, including improvements in total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, total triglycerides, and levels of insulin, cortisol, growth hormone, and IGF-1.

Additional searching on other herbal supplements for weight control shows that numerous herbs are well-supported by scientific studies. Several could contend for the top 5 list. The top 5, including green tea, that appear to be the best at the moment, based on scientific research are: 

• Green tea (Camellia sinensis)
• Banaba (Lagerostroemia speciosa)
• Gymnema sylvestre
• African mango (Irvingia gabonensis)
• Bitter melon (Momordica charantia)

The mechanisms of action, when known, vary among these herbs. The most common mechanisms entail antioxidant (anti-inflammatory) power, enhanced fat cell metabolism, and blood sugar and insulin regulation.

Herbal Weight Loss Supplements to Avoid

This is a much bigger topic. It is an easier topic to explore on Pubmed, since some of the most widely marketed 'weight loss' herbs have very little research to sort through, and sometimes none at all. Two of the top examples are Hoodia and acai berry.

A PubMed search on Hoodia yields 37 published articles. This herb is widely marketed as an appetite suppressant and has been endorsed by Oprah, Dr. Oz, and other celebrities. The most pertinent and most recent research on this herb as a treatment for overweight was published in 2011 (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 95 no. 5, pp. 1171-1181). This research showed that, after a 15-day study period, there was no significant difference in food intake or body weight between the Hoodia-treated group and the control (placebo) group.

Moreover, Hoodia was not well tolerated during this study. Side effects included nausea, vomiting, disturbed skin sensations, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and higher bilirubin levels.

On the other hand, a PubMed search on acai appeared more promising at first, since it yielded 92 research articles. At least 15 of these had nothing to do with the herb. Of those remaining, many properties of acai were reported. However, none involved weight loss. There were no published weight loss studies on acai whatsoever.

Acai berry juice is marketed with almost breathless claims about how this so-called exotic, tropical fruit juice is a miracle weight loss supplement. The truth is that the acai berry is an inexpensive product of common date palms in Brazil that has no documented weight loss benefits at all.

As weight loss supplements, Hoodia and acai sure seem to fit the descriptions of scams to me. Unfortunately, these are not the only ones.

Dr. Dennis Clark reviews the scientific evidence, or lack of it, behind weight loss supplements and other approaches to weight loss. He provides his overview of the five components of weight loss that you must know in his free belly fat book.

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Exercise Bike Workout For Weight Loss

Here's an exercise bike workout for weight loss. First, I must say that overall, I DON'T like using bikes for working out. Why... because it's an UNNATURAL exercise that doesn't fit evolution. I'll explain this more further along in the article. Look, if you do in fact use a bike, then I'm going to show you the best way to make it work for weight loss.

Exercise Bike Workout for Weight Loss

1. DON'T just ride the bike nice and easy while comfortably sitting on it

Here's a hint you won't burn much fat. Can you talk in a normal conversation while you're exercising? If so, you might as well stop doing it. You're just wasting your time.

2. DON'T ride at the same pace the whole time

This is not going to cause much fat burning. You need to change it up on your body, keep it guessing

3. Do use INTERVALS... high intensity intervals mixed with low intensity intervals

This is the 1 and ONLY WAY to lose a good amount of weight using this piece of equipment. Here is a general outline that works great for most people. You can adjust the times to fit your conditioning.

Ride the bike as fast as you can for 10 seconds. That's tough, but definitely doable. Next, ride it slow for 50 seconds. You're still exercising, but this is actually an "active rest". After that, repeat the 10 high intensity seconds. And so on. You keep repeating the 10 hard seconds followed by 50 easy seconds for at least 20 minutes.

At the end of 20 minutes, you would've rode the bike fast for a grand total of 200 seconds... barely 3 minutes. YET... I bet you're sweating. Hmm, wonder why. Well, because you're actually working out in a smart manner that's efficient for burning fat.

So take this exercise bike workout for weight loss and give it a try and see what you're missing out on.

If you're SICK and TIRED of getting the same old boring weight loss advice... you know, like "Eat more fruits and vegetables, drink 8 glasses of water, jog, and Blah Blah Blah", then...

Click http://www.weightlossguide4women.com to get your FREE EBOOK "How SPINNING Around Like a Child TRIPLES your Weight Loss". A strange, but true, way to LOSE 10 Pounds in 2 Weeks. I'm giving away this ebook today and tomorrow ONLY to anyone who visits my website! So get it before tomorrow night.

If you're truly serious about losing weight, then go to the link below to get your free ebook now. If you don't Lose 10 Pounds... I'd be QUITE surprised! http://www.weightlossguide4women.com

Jennifer Jolan

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Fast Healthy Recipes - Asian Green Bean Stir Fry

If you work all day, the last thing you want to do when you get home is to slave in front of a hot stove to prepare dinner. However, you don't want to fall to temptation and drive through the take out window for some sub-standard fast food. If you are trying to eat healthy and watching your weight, you want to eat foods that are nutrient rich, giving the most goody for the calories you consume.

The below recipe is great for a quick snack or as an accompaniment to a main entrée. It's a great complement to chicken, fish, pork or beef.

Asian Green Bean Stir Fry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 pound green beans, cut 1-inch portions
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen mixed stir-fry vegetables (thaw if frozen)
1 tablespoon black bean-garlic sauce (found in Asian food section of most large grocery stores)

Directions:
1. In large frying pan heat sesame oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add green beans and crushed red pepper.
3. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until seared, stir often.
4. Add water, cover, reduce heat to medium.
5. Cook 3-6 minutes, stir occasionally, cook longer for tender vegetables.
6. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, add stir-fry vegetables and black bean-garlic sauce.
7. Cook until heated through, stirring often.
8. Dish is ready when the majority of the liquid has evaporated.
Serves approximately 4,1 cup servings.

Health Benefits:
Beans are rich in fiber and protein but also a great source of iron and Vitamin B6. Low in fat and calories, providing antioxidants that protect the heart.

Karen Ficarelli is the founder and CEO of Fitness4Her.com, a diet, exercise program and women's fitness blog, developed especially for women. A sports nutritionist and personal trainer, Karen has a treasure chest full of healthy recipes that will keep you eating healthy and lean.

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Lose Weight Fast - Diet and Exercise Tips for Fast Fat Loss

Great news!!! You can start losing fat without spending any money. Keep reading to find out how. You've probably already tried losing weight with the help of various fat burn and dieting programs with no luck. Keep reading, because it's not as difficult as it sounds or as other people make it seem. You will have a good starting point by the end of this article. Stick to these tips and tricks and you will be on your way to your weight loss goals. In this article you will find out how to lose weight quickly and naturally.

First of all. You need stop eating unhealthy fast food. But you already knew that. Burgers, Pizza, snacks and all them tasty pastries are a great way to eat a ton of calories and put on some solid fat.

Sure these foods are much easier to prepare, but this time saver comes with a price. And you know what that is.

Make sure to eat more protein and fiber-rich foods. Incorporate lot's of fruits and veggies into your daily meals. They will suppress your appetite, improve your energy and they are full of nutrients.

Don't forget to drink water every day and lots of it. It's easy, try drinking a bottle right before your meal.

Exercise! Exercises and a healthy diet is the best way to lose weight naturally. You don't have to workout at the gym everyday. You can simply start using the stairs and walking more often. When you're ready for the gym, keep in mind that a full body workout helps to get you the results you desire.

Or if you don't want to join a gym, than you can take some classes like:Yoga, Kickboxing or MMA (for extreme people out there).

Get active (exercise)! Start playing a sport, do a short 10 to 15 minutes walk during the lunch break or maybe even get a second job that requires you to be more active. You don't have to spend money to burn fat.

Finally, there are ways to speed up fat loss. That are proven to deliver real results really fast. And if you want to get rid of body weight as fast as physically possible, than you may want to take a closer look at some of the most respected and talked about weight loss programs, or perhaps a personal trainer. It takes knowledge and dedication baby!!!

Make sure to visit out website, all of your health needs will be addressed. We have plenty of weight loss videos to help you lose weight fast and naturally. Free and paid advice, the most talked about weight loss products and diets reviewed and rated for you convenience. Please like, share and comment on this article if you like it.

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Healthy Chicken Recipes - 4 Tips For Awesome, Flavorsome Food

As we enter the beginning of a New Year many people will have resolved to lose weight and with this in mind I am going to give you some tips to cook healthy chicken recipes that will flood your taste buds with amazing flavor but also help as part of a calorie controlled diet.

But first of all, here are a few fun facts that you may not know about the chicken.

There are more chickens on earth than there are human beings

A chicken bred with a turkey is called a "Turken" which has the head of a turkey and the body of a chicken.

The United States has 4 cities with the word "chicken" in them: Chicken Town, Pennsylvania, Chicken Bristle, Kentucky, Chicken Alaska and Chicken Bristle Illinois.

The largest amount of yolks ever found in a single chicken's egg is 9.

Anyway, enough of that and on to some tips for creating healthy chicken recipes. Chicken is a very popular meat to cook because its subtle flavors adapt well to many different dishes and methods of cooking. It is also high in protein and has less fat than red meat. Having said that, however, many Americans buy boneless, skinnned chicken breasts and cooked wrongly, these can soon end up dry and tough as old boots, which leads me into my first tip.

1. When it comes to basic cooking there are two different methods: dry heat and moist heat. Dry heat includes baking, roasting, frying and grilling and moist heat includes poaching, steaming, microwaving and slow cooking. When using dry heat for chicken breasts, use a high heat and cook for a matter of minutes. Grilled chicken cooks in about 8-10 minutes. When using moist heat to cook chicken breasts they will take longer, but only about 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the breasts).

2. Chicken crockpot recipes are always popular especially with working moms and nothing beats the smell of slow cooked chicken as you come through the door. In order to make these recipes both healthy and tasty, I would recommend that you use chicken thighs. So many people overlook chicken thighs and choose breast, but thighs are much more flavorsome and incredibly cheap. Remove all the skin and brown them all over in a pan before removing them with a slotted spoon and adding them to your favorite crockpot recipe. They will happily cook in a crockpot, retaining both moisture and flavor. Try adding some fruit like dried apricot or prunes as these work really well with chicken and help to bulk out the dish.

3. Try getting lots of flavor into your chicken, whether it be breasts or thighs, by marinating for several hours prior to cooking. A sweet and sour marinade consisting of honey, soy sauce, olive oil, and chill works well and if you pour the entire contents into your pan to cook the chicken, you will end up with delicious, tasty, sticky chicken which works really well with stir fried vegetables or a green salad.

4. Shake and bake chicken is another great way to pep up the humble chicken and keep the fat content low. You can make your own seasoning with a basic crumb mix and what you add to this is entirely up to you, but some good combinations include lemon zest and cracked black pepper, crumbled Parmesan cheese, or even some curry powder for a taste of India. Chicken, oven baked in this way, retains the moisture inside whilst becoming nice and crunchy on the outside and is always a winner with the kids.

Use these tips and don't be afraid to get creative and experiment with marinades and seasonings. When it comes to healthy chicken recipes the only limit is your imagination.

To learn more about Healthy Chicken Recipes, download my 10 day e-learning course here: "Popular Restaurant Recipes"

Patrick Edwards is the owner of www.restaurantrecipesonline.com where he provides premium Restaurant recipes and tips.

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Favorite Healthy Recipes For Kids

Parents know that it is challenging to come up with fast and healthy recipes for kids. Kids can be very finicky eaters, especially when it comes to vegetables and grains. Moms, Dads and chefs all over the world are always swapping new ideas for meals and ways to ensure a child will eat healthy and good tasting food.

One of the biggest challenges facing parents is how to get a child to eat their vegetables. Instead of pouring fattening melted cheese all over broccoli, try hiding the unpopular green villains. Mix the veggies with chicken and a cream sauce and then roll it up in a doughy casing. Use either a tortilla (corn or flour), a crepe, or a pita pocket.

A Quiche made out of eggs, lean bacon and vegetables is both easy, quick and relatively cheap. Buy a ready-made pie crust at your local market and in a large mixing bowl, combine 5 eggs, broccoli (or any other vegetable) and cooked bacon pieces all together. Then pour the mixture into the pie crust and stick it in the oven at 425 degrees for a half hour. This is a healthy and delicious treat for the whole family.

Kids always crave certain foods such as pizza. A pizza can be made very healthy and made quickly. You can really go wild with the veggie toppings and load a ready-made pizza dough full of them. First cover the dough with a marinara sauce, sprinkle mozzarella cheese (an naturally low-fat cheese) over the sauce and then pile on the veggies. Stick the pie in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.

Chicken nuggets are also a favorite. When baked instead of fried, these are very nutritional meal items. Set your oven to 400 degrees. Take raw chicken tenders and dip them into beaten 2 or 3 egg yolks. Then take the nuggets or tenders and dip them into breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs that are commonly sold at grocery stores work great. Place the chicken on a greased pan and set in oven for a half hour. Grilling the chicken nuggets is also a great idea. This dish goes great with rice, mashed potatoes or just a little bit of fruit as a dessert.

A popular breakfast recipe for little ones is whole grain pancakes. Kids will think you are feeding them a sweet snack instead of a healthy meal. Whole grain pancake batter is sold right along side the regular pancake batter at your local grocers. Instead of fatty maple syrup, opt for a non-preservative berry spread to top the pancakes.

For a midday snack: apple sticks, strawberries, and other sweet fruit will always win them over. Children and teens are natural fans of fruit and often don't request any additional toppings or dipping sauces. If their favorite fruit is not in season, frozen fruit is just as nutritious and delicious when thawed.

Remember that a child will crave what he or she is fed the most often. There are many healthy recipes for kids that will always be a hit. Your children will thank you for it, someday.

Get hold of lots of tasty healthy recipes for kids from healthy eating for kids.

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Vegetarian Weight Loss Meal Plans

Losing weight is often a favourite reason for teenagers, young adults and adults to go vegetarian. It is highly possible and easy to lose loads of weight by following the proper vegetarian weight loss meal plans. However, you will need low calorie vegetarian meal plans if you want to successfully lose weight by going vegetarian.

Studies show that vegetarians generally have healthier body weights and are thinner than meat eaters. On the other hand, it is definitely possible to be an overweight vegetarian.

How to Gain Weight on a Vegetarian Diet: Eat a lot of junk food like chips, chocolate, soda Eat a lot of take out like pizza, fries and high fat veggie burgers Eat a lot of cheese and full fat dairy products

How to Lose Weight on a Vegetarian Diet: Eat lots of vegetables Eat lots of plant based protein Drink fortified dairy free milk such as soya milk, almond milk, rice milk or hemp milk

So what exactly should you eat to lose weight on a vegetarian diet? Easy Veggie Meal Plans takes the confusion out of vegetarian diets by providing low calorie vegetarian weight loss meal plans that show you exactly how to lose belly fat fast. The protein rich and vegetable filled vegetarian recipes in this program are the key to unlocking the healthy vegetarian in you.

Here is an example of the low calorie vegetarian recipes included in her Easy Veggie Meal Plans.

Seitan Stir fry Calories 385, Fat 12gr, Carbohydrates 44gr, Protein 21gr

*Seitan: also known as wheat meat or wheat gluten. Even though it comes from wheat, it is not a carb, it's a protein. It contains 31 grams per 3 oz! It resembles meat in look and can be made to taste like all kinds of meats, fish and seafood. The texture varies if it is baked, boiled or reheated in the microwave.

1/4 cup Seitan 

2 cups broccoli
¼ cup onion
½ cup brown rice cooked
2/3 cup snow peas
½ cup celery
1 cup bell pepper
1 tsp. Toasted sesame oil
1 tsp regular sesame oil
2 tsp. sesame seeds
Celtic/ Himalayan salt to taste
Garlic powder or fresh garlic to taste
Ginger- optional
Hot pepper- optional
Soy sauce

Sauté seitan, broccoli, bell peppers, celery, snow peas and onion together in a small amount of oil and water. Add sesame oils, salt, ginger, hot pepper, soy sauce and garlic to taste and sauté 2 mins. Boil rice and salt in water until soft. Al Dente style preferably (slightly chewy)

Follow simple, easy, and budget-friendly vegetarian weight loss meal plans to lose weight without sacrificing your health, wallet, or taste buds.

Want to get slim and sexy, the easy, vegetarian way read more about this slimming diet here: How to Eat Vegetarian for Weight Loss

If you're reading to jump right in and start cooking delicious meals, I've written a cookbook for those wanting to try an increasing amount of vegetarian meals How to Eat Vegetarian Easy Ideas and Recipes Under 30 Minutes.

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Important Facts About Food Nutrition Labels

Food nutrition labels are often seen at the back of food packages sold in the grocery stores. Most people do not know the fact that these tags are as important as the contents each package holds. 

In fact, only a small percentage of shoppers care about reading them before paying for the goods they have at hand. This small crowd of shoppers are usually health buffs who are dedicated to managing their weight.

If you are keen to observe, the nutrition facts printed on these labels come with other information like the ingredients, approvals from different health organizations, recommendations from respected sources and indications where certain products are made.

The common name of the item sold is the major information that makes up food nutrition labels. It is followed by the serving size. The serving size is provided so that consumers may be protected from the harms of taking much food in their systems. 

Those who are having a close watch of their weight must be able to track the amount of calories and fats per serving if they wish to eat more than the recommended serving. With this, they will be able to track how much hours they need to spend in the gym to burn the extra calories.

Apart from weight gain, more serious challenges to a person's health may be prevented through some helpful information in the package. These are the detailed nutritional facts that include the amount of carbohydrates, cholesterol, saturated fat, protein, vitamins and minerals. As we all know, people with heart disease must stay away from foods with high cholesterol. 

All these are listed in standard units so that a regular consumer will find it easy to track their amounts. Furthermore, people plagued by certain allergies can avoid eating allergy-causing substances if all the ingredients are listed on the box or packet of food they are purchasing.

On the side of the food companies, packaging and labelling also provide an effective means for them to entice consumers to purchase their products. A creative logo, neat design and vibrant colors can definitely attract shoppers who are browsing through the grocery shelves. Consumers are also attracted by health claims in phrases like 'decreased possibility of certain cancers', 'certified fat-free products' and 'energy-giving solution'.

There are special requirements by which these food tags must be produced. These requirements vary according to the kinds of containers in which foods are stored. Liquids and other solid foods kept in bottles and jars are often refrigerated. And so, the food nutrition labels to be attached to them must withstand very cold temperatures and moisture. Texts in substandard tags sometimes smudge when they come in contact with moisture. In cases like this, strong materials and glues must be used to suit such conditions whether they are applied manually or through a machine. There are also situations where non-toxic ink is required for the printing of these tags as they are to label edibles. Herewith, soy based inks are utilized during the printing.

Are You Looking For Local Experts In Sticker Printing For Your Food Business? Visit http://www.barneyslabels.com.au/ For More Information On Doing This Right For Your Business Today.

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Organic Foods For Vegetarian Weight Loss Meal Plans

People nowadays are becoming more health conscious. Some people follow vegetarian weight loss meals plan. It might be because they believe that having fruit-and-vegetable-only diet can make them healthier. Also people nowadays are getting aware on the harmful effects of chemicals that are sprayed to plants and injected to animals; they are opting for organic foods.

A recent study conducted in America found that organic foods and conventional foods do not differ dramatically in terms of nutritive content. It means that an organically grown apple does not have higher vitamins and minerals content compared to commercially grown apple. But it cannot be denied the fact that insecticides and other chemicals sprayed to plants have negative effects when taken in the body, not to mention those chemicals are not good for the environment too.

For a vegetarian weight loss meals plan, consuming these foods will be a far better approach to a healthier body. If you are having a vegetarian diet, but the fruits and vegetables that you are eating contains high levels of chemicals, it will not give you the best effect for your health. People who are eating these foods in their vegetarian weight loss meals plan experience positive changes in their health. They feel they are more 'alive' and they have more energy, compared to their previous diet plan.

You might want to ask the foods meals recipes that you should incorporate into your vegetarian weight loss meals plan. It is true that these foods are more expensive than the conventional ones. So, to save money and still get to enjoy the benefits of vegetarian weight loss meals plan, here are some suggestions.

Include in your list of organic foods meals recipes fruits and vegetables that have thin peelings. These fruits and vegetables when sprayed with pesticides, insecticides and fungicides absorb more of these chemicals and cannot be washed off easily with water. So when these foods are included in your vegetarian weight loss meals plan make sure you are buying the organic foods. 

Foods included in your 10 organic foods meals recipes are root crops with thin peels like potatoes and carrots, apples, tomatoes berries, grapes and others. If you are tight on budget, you can exclude foods that have thicker skin in your list of organic foods meals recipes. You can go with conventionally grown foods like avocados, pineapples, and squash.

Also, do not forget in your vegetarian weight loss meals plan green leafy vegetables. These vegetables should be organic foods, without those harmful chemicals because you might enter in your bodies those chemicals if it sprayed to the leaves of these vegetables. Include in the 10 organic foods meals recipes green leafy vegetables like spinach and foods in the lettuce family. 

If commercially grown, these foods are abundantly sprayed with chemicals to keep off insects, so better opt for these foods. 

It is good to save your money on foods like broccoli, sweet potato, eggplants, cauliflower and the like, because these foods do not retain chemicals well, or they are not grown with chemicals. White sugar and flour are refined stuff, so if you can, avoid them, and go for the lesser processed and near natural.

These are just some of the foods that you can add to the organic foods meals recipes. You can eat some of this raw, or cook them lightly. There are a lot of available resources that you can look through for the 10 organic foods meals recipes. You can experiment, and try which suits your taste.

Are you looking for information on organic foods? Visit http://weightloss-slimmingcastle.com/blog/ today!

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Nutrition Weight Loss Tips - How Proper Workout Routines, Diet and Nutrition Can Help Weight Loss

Proper workout routines, diet and nutrition are the most important factors when it comes to weight loss. Paying attention to your food choices and eating patterns along with exercise should be your primary goal if you want to lose weight quickly. 

You gain weight when you normally eat more calories than your body burns. So, the key to long term weight loss is to change your diet (like eating low calorie diet) and perform workout routine in moderation.

When doing workout routines, do strength training and perform workouts that engage multimuscle groups which should help with your weight loss. 

Strength training is an effective exercise to build more muscle and burn calories. So, always incorporate strengthening exercises along with your aerobic conditioning exercises in your workout routines to accelerate your weight loss programs.

When it comes to nutrition, incorporating smart food choices is very important. Avoid sugar, cream, oil, margarine and fried foods, and, eat vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains. 

Eat colourful fruits and vegetables as they contain fiber and pack powerful anti-oxidants. Eating fibrous fruits and vegetables help you keep fuller longer as they get digested slowly and help you to cut down your total caloric intake.

Last but not the least; don't depend just on your normal foods for your body's optimal nutrition. Taking nutritional supplements along with your regular diet is very important these days. With commercialization of the food industry, the foods that we eat today are bleached, processed or treated with chemicals; therefore they get stripped of their vital nutrients in the process. 

Hence, adding dietary nutritional supplements (such as multivitamin supplements) is a must these days to meet your nutritional requirements and, curb food cravings to lose weight quickly.

For more info like these visit: workout routine tips

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Lose Weight The Vegetarian Way in 2 Weeks

Let me show how you can lose weight the vegetarian way in 2 weeks or less. What you'll discover are practical, proven tactics that'll help you shed pounds on a natural pace healthily and safely without side effects.

1. Natural Helps Fat Loss

No doubt pre-packaged (processed) vegetarian meals make filling your stomach easy, their high-sugar, high-sodium and high-fat content can easily sabotage your fat loss plan. Cut back on those and include more raw vegetarian food in your 14-day meal plan. Not only you save time in cooking, but you'll lose weight the vegetarian way more easily.

2. More Meals Burn More Fat

You get optimal metabolism when you break up your 3 regular meals into 5 smaller meals. The logic behind eating smaller meals at 2 - 3 hours interval is that your metabolic rate will stay active over longer duration. You won't get too full on each meal, but yet you won't feel hungry so easily. When you starve, your metabolism will slow down, and you'll burn less fat. Hence, consume more meals to burn more fat.

3. Prepare Your Own Diet

Where possible, make your own meals so you know exactly what you're feeding your body with. To save time on making vegetarian meals at home, I suggest that you buy some recipes that show you how to easily whip up nutrient dense dishes in less than 20 minutes per meal (on average) so you won't feel daunted at the thought of creating your own fat loss vegetarian diet.

4. Change Your Recipes

Keep changing your recipes every 2 - 3 days. Sticking to the same old meals for 2 weeks will deprive your body of certain vitamins, minerals and various other nutrients it needs for optimal metabolism. When you rotate your meals with a broader spectrum of ingredients and nutrients, you won't likely experience weight loss plateau, which some vegetarians face.

5. Drink Water to Stimulate Metabolism

Soup, fruit juice or green tea already contribute some amount of water in your body, so you may not need to drink too much water. When weather turns cool, you may need only 5 glasses of water per day.

Observe your urine color. If it turns pale yellowish or clear, it means your body is properly hydrated for effective fat loss. When it goes yellow, you need to drink more water. But don't drink 2 glasses at one go even if the weather is extremely hot. Spread out your water consumption over time for better fluid absorption and boosting metabolism.

I've just shared with you on how to lose weight the vegetarian style by changing the way you eat. However, you should not ignore the facts that getting enough quality sleep, doing regular exercises and keeping yourself stress-free will make fat loss more effective. You should see apparent results in 14 days.

Laura Ng recommends coconut oil for weight loss because this healthy fat can boost your metabolism and burn fat for up to 24 hours a day. She suggests that you include coconut oil in your vegetarian eating plan to lose weight faster and expedite your fat loss success. Having this super food in your diet, you'll soon increase your energy levels and get in shape without getting loose skin and weight rebound. Visit iNotFat.com for more vegetarian weight loss tips now.


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Weight Loss Nutrition - How To Determine If Your Diet Is Right For You

With 50,000 results coming from searching "diet books" on Amazon.com, it's not surprising that so many people are confused about what they should be eating to lose weight and get healthy. Many people embark on fad diets without knowing how to tell if a diet plan is right for them or not. In this post, I'm going to share with you the principles that I believe all good nutrition programs should follow.

So let's get to it...

1. Good Nutrition Controls 'Calories In' Versus 'Calories Out'

This is not just a dietary rule but a fundamental law of nature. Known in the physics world as the First Law of Thermodynamics, it states that that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. How does this apply to what you eat? If you eat more calories than you use, you gain weight. Or if you take in less calories than you use, you lose weight. And if you take in as many calories as you burn, you will remain the same weight.

In reality all calories aren't made equally and severe calorie-restricted diets can waste away your muscles which can end up making you gain the weight back. However, calories are an important factor and can be the sole determinant of whether you are losing or gaining weight.

2. Good Nutrition Improves The Way You Look And Your Health

Not only should you look better from a good nutrition plan but your blood chemistry should improve as well. You should take before and after pictures along with measurements to measure your change in appearance but going to the your doctor to have your blood work done is the way to tell if your health is improving. This way you make sure that your nutrition plan is also improving your health as well as your aesthetics.

3. Good Nutrition Provides Results

"I don't understand. I eat we but I'm still gaining weight." I have news for you: you are not following an appropriate nutrition plan if you are not losing weight. Maybe your diet isn't right for you, maybe your diet is good but you are not following it well or maybe your diet isn't right for anyone. The fact of the matter is that a good nutrition program is one that provides results.

4. Good Nutrition Has Flexibility

I call this the 90/10 rule. I eat a pretty strict diet about 90% of the time, but the other 10% I cheat. Never having ice cream, or drinking alcohol, or eating pizza is not my idea of a good time. Let's face it: some of the things that are "bad" for you are also pretty tasty!

I encourage my clients to reward themselves every week with "cheat" meals. Knowing that you will eventually be able to eat something that you want helps with adhering to your nutrition plan. There's also evidence that cheat meals can help with your results via a hormone called leptin.

WARNING! You might have to be really strict for several weeks (or maybe even months) to get yourself started so you can develop the new behaviors that that will put you on the track to success. Another problem that I see is that people think they're cheating 10% of the time when they are actually cheating more. 

Don't do that! Like I mentioned above, if you aren't getting results, then most likely that you are not sticking to your program or your program isn't good for you. Using a food diary is one way to be sure you know exactly what you are eating. No need to weigh your food, just start writing things down.

The Take Away

The big take away here is that your nutritional plan should be getting you results, improving the way you look and your health and allow you some room to have some treats in the process. If it isn't, then something needs to change!

Ted Ryce is a Miami Beach Personal Trainer who specializes in Fitness, Fat loss and exercises for Injuries.

Visit my website for more information on Fat Loss, Nutrition and Miami Beach Personal Training.

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Healthy Recipes for Your Kids' Breakfast

Preparing breakfast for kids is a challenging task for moms. Kids need healthy foods to start their day and that means that moms need to be creative in finding breakfast recipes. Mornings are always rushed, so the solution can't take a lot of time. If you are trapped in this kind of situation, don't worry. 

Nowadays, plenty of healthy recipes for your beloved children are available. Below I will share some great recipes for a healthier breakfast each day. These recipes are easy; all you need to do is just make some small adjustments to the original ingredients. I know that you don't have much time to prepare breakfast so hopefully these ideas will be very helpful for you.

Pancakes or Waffles

You will love to know that there are ways to make your pancakes or waffles a little bit healthier. You can use ¼ cup of bran flour to substitute for some of the regular flour, and this is a great way to add fiber in your kids' foods. This substitution won't change the pancake taste or texture. Your kids will still get a tasty pancake while at the same time they will get enough fiber for their body. 

Do you want another pancake trick? Well, you can also add ½ cup of banana or apples to add flavor. Add some cinnamon to the flour before adding water, since cinnamon and apples go very well together. These fruits will add vitamins in the pancake that make their systems strong.

Muffins

Most kids love muffins since they are easy to grab. You can make the recipe healthier by adding certain fruits like strawberries, bananas or raisins. It is also possible to add vegetables such as spinach, carrot or pumpkin. Adding ¼ cup of fruits or vegetables gives your kids a vitamin boost.

Smoothies

Some kids don't like to eat in the morning. If your kids don't like to eat pancakes or waffles for breakfast, there is a great trick to overcome this. You can make a smoothie so that they can drink their breakfast. The basic compositions for smoothie are milk, yogurt and fruit. To create a delicious flavor, you can mix some fruits like pineapple, strawberries, kiwi or blueberries. Add low-fat vanilla-flavored yogurt and skim milk then mix them. If your kids don't like milk in the smoothie, you can substitute 100% fruit juice. It can be fun to get your kids to help you and they can choose their favorite fruits to mix.

Other Ideas

You can also try to serve oatmeal and add some cinnamon, blueberries or other fruits. The key to serving a healthy breakfast is to keep it high in fiber and low in sugar. With the ideas above, preparing healthy recipes for breakfast won't be as hard as you thought.

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Chest Exercises Without Weights - Home Workout Options

Think the bench press and the pushup are your only chest exercise options? Think again.

There MANY ways to target your chest without weights.

Let's take a look at a few you might not have tried yet.

Chest Exercises Without Weights - Bodyweight Options

The pushup is a fundamental upper body exercise, and one would do well to master it. But let's look at some not-so-common variations that can really target your chest.

Ball Pushups

Grab a basketball, soccer ball, homemade medicine ball, or other inflatable ball.

Place your hands one either side of the ball, and push your hands together, hard.

You should feel a strong contraction in your inner chest (much like doing cable crossovers on a weight machine).

While flexing, crank out some pushups. You should feel much more activation in your inner chest than with standard pushups.

To turn this move into more of an upper chest exercise, try elevating your feet onto a chair.

Wide Stance Pushups

Generally, the wider you place your hands while doing a pushup, the more it becomes a chest exercise, and the less it targets your arms.

Since the upper chest is often stubborn to develop, try doing wide stance pushups with your feet on a chair, or if that is too difficult, try doing wide stance jackknife pushups (bent at the waist - check YouTube for detailed instructions).

Explosive Ball Pushups

For this chest exercise without weights, place one of your hands onto a ball on the floor. Do a pushup with your one hand on the ball and other hand on the floor.

At the high point of your pushup, quickly switch hands on the ball.

Go back and forth explosively.

Decline Pushups on a Suspension Trainer

Suspension trainers are extremely useful pieces of equipment. Don't stress if you don't have the $200 or so to spend on a retail model, do a quick Google search for a DIY suspension trainer and you can find several great ways to make your own for around $15.

For this exercise, set the suspension trainer up so the handles are an inch or two off the ground. Put your feet on a chair, grip the trainer's handles, and do a pushup.

This is my personal favorite chest/upper body exercise.

To target the optimal muscle growth range (4-8 reps per set), add some weight (pea gravel works well) into a backpack for this exercise.

Some trainers claim this exercise is safer AND more effective than the bench press for upper body strength!

Don't Forget to Balance Pushing With Pulling

Doing only pushing motions will lead to muscle imbalances that make you prone to injury. So, don't forget to balance all these pushing motions with pulling motions like body rows (the suspension trainer works well for this move).

A good way to get a complete upper body workout is simply doing 4 sets of decline pushups, each set alternated with a set of body rows.

Try these chest exercises without weights out for yourself and see how they work for you!

If you found this article interesting and for more info on the best chest exercises and homemade workout equipment, check out my blog at http://homeworkoutblog.com/

See how I have successfully lost 30 pounds of fat, built strength and muscle, and overcome chronic injuries all at home.

Take care and good luck!

-Ian

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Looking for Healthy Easy Recipes for Dinner? Try These Spanish Meatballs

Trying to choose quick healthy easy recipes for dinner can sometimes be cumbersome, especially you're in a mad scramble to get everything prepared, cook a meal the whole family can enjoy all the while making sure it's nutritionally dense and well balanced. 

With this Spanish meatballs recipe below you can rest assured because it's a quick and healthy easy recipe for dinner that the whole family will enjoy.

Healthy Easy Recipes for Dinner: Spanish Meatballs

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 500g organic lean minced beef

• 1 large organic or free range egg

• 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

• 2 organic beef stock cubes

• 1 litre of boiling water

• Dried Herbs de Provence (or a good selection of dried mixed herbs)

• 1 white onion, finely sliced

• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced, extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil, salt and ground black pepper

Method:

1. Mix the mince with the egg and half the onion chopped. Season with 1 stock cube and black pepper.

2. Roll the mixture with your hands into ping pong sized balls and fry in oil until almost cooked (the meatballs can still be slightly.

3. pink in middle as they are going to simmer in the sauce). Be sure to turn them around now and again so they cook evenly.

4. Take the meatballs out and put them on a plate to rest.

5. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan, retaining the bits of meat that are left in the bottom of the pan.

6. Add the rest of the chopped onion and some finally chopped garlic and sauté for a further 2 minutes until golden.

7. Add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and a good sprinkling of mixed herbs.

8. Add in the water and crumble in the final stock cube. Season with salt and pepper if required.

9. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens a little.

10. Add the meatballs and mix them well with the tomato sauce. Let them cook for another couple of minutes.

These meatballs are delicious and can be served with some steamed greens such as broccoli, asparagus, spinach or any other of your favourite veg. If you do find yourself craving some pasta or spaghetti you can have them with some 'miracle noodles'. These little gems are low calorie and low carb which means they are perfect if you are carb conscious and looking to drop a few pounds or maybe even if you're looking to lose a stone fast. That's not to say that carbs should be avoided altogether, definitely not. I hope you enjoy this healthy recipe idea for dinner and that you give it a go. Hasta luego.

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